Government cost-cutting should begin with the National Empowerment Fund’s R6 million CEO

13 November 2019

The Democratic Alliance (DA) can reveal that once again, National Empowerment Fund (NEF) CEO, Philisiwe Mthethwa is most likely South Africa’s highest paid civil servant with a combined salary package of more than R6 million for the previous financial year. Ms. Mthethwa’s salary is R2 million more than President Cyril Ramaphosa is paid.

Mthethwa has held the title of “Highest Paid Civil Servant” for a number of years and her package includes a R2 million bonus. Her massive salary is quite shocking given the fact that the NEF has little money to do its work and that the entity does not have much to show for its CEO’s exorbitant salary.

The NEF was set up in 1998 to provide capital funding for black entrepreneurs and while their initial work showed some success after being funded by Government, repeated budget cuts have rendered the entity without funding, except to fund their overpaid executives at a combined total of more than R17 million, all who received bonuses ranging from R580 000 to R1.2 million.

It is becoming blatantly obvious that there is a myriad of Government entities that serve little purpose except to fund the lifestyles of highly paid executives.

The DA believes the objectives of the NEF is best served by being incorporated into the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC), which there seems to be a universal agreement to. This is something that the Parliamentary Committee for Trade & Industry has discussed for a number of years yet little action has been taken.

The time for talking is over. We cannot spend money to fund the lifestyles of overpaid civil servants at the expense of entrepreneurs who are desperate to scale up their businesses and create jobs.

The DA will seek answers from Trade & Industry Minister, Ebrahim Patel on when the NEF will be incorporated into the IDC so we can start putting the interests of small businesses first.

Issued by Dean Macpherson, DA Shadow Minister of Trade and Industry, 13 November 2019